I'll admit it... I have a fake Christmas tree. Yep, I don't do real Christmas trees, while that seems like a mockery of authentic Christmas decor, I am not entirely ashamed. Because as I see it, it's really more practical and economical.
1.I can set up before Thanksgiving, should I so desire (as i did the year I was pregnant with my #3 son who was born the day after Thanksgiving)
2.It requires no special trips to get other than a jaunt up the pull down stairs to the attic.
3. I can go on vacation and when I return after 2 1/2 weeks it's not a mess of dried up needles.
4. One time purchase
5. Easy set up/consistent size.
You see the list of pros goes on. But really the biggest reason is, I get depressed by real Christmas trees. Don't get me wrong they can be pretty, I sometimes envy my New England neighbors who go to our local town farm to chop their own it see so quaint and quintessentially Christmas. While I marvel when they are majestically lit up and decorated and steal piney sniffs from their presence in neighbors homes. I hate nothing more than the day after Christmas scene -- unbought trees in those "set up just for December tree lots" all sad an unused, unwanted, and waiting to be disposed of. Maybe i'd feel better if i wrote a list of 100 things to do with unused christmas trees? (I know they get recycled) But they worked hard for years to grow big and pretty and then their best wasn't good enough. I feel for them like the last kid picked in PE class.Seriously, it makes me want to cry. I have to turn away. The waste of the trees, it's sad to me like injured animals. (I know, I know, I am anthropomorphizing the trees too much)
Which brings me to the second thing I don't do which is animal movies- yep no Benji, Black Beauty, Lassie for me, even Land Before Time or An American Tail, despite being fictious and animated, they make me cry. I know the animals don't really get hurt in production but it's knowing that somewhere there are other animals in the world that are cold, lost, hungry, or suffering that makes me sad....this is probably also why I cannot commit to any pets beyond brine shrimp.
So Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from me and my fake tree while I always welcome gifts...just don't give me any Benji movies.
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7 comments:
LAUGHING!!!!
Perhaps your heart is too big. Try my method, a heart three sizes too small--then you don't have thoughts of trees left alone or abandoned animals. You worry about things like your hair and your shoes matching your bag. :)
MERRY CHRISTMAS my friend!
Well now you've given me a far deeper and emotional perspective on fake trees. That IS sad that all those trees don't get picked. Tragic.
My getting an artificial tree stems from many Christmases ago when a family in our ward had their home burn down because of a real one. Something to do with a camera flash and a dry tree... I don't really recall. I just remember in sacrament meeting the congregation being for clothing and shoes for a girl my age and my size. It was so sad. She later became a really good friend of mine. And so I just get artificial trees so I don't worry about fires.
I feel for your animal heart--I even agree with your tree philosophy. I still would much rather endure the pain and have a real one, though. Do your parents do real or fake?
Merry Christmas to you!!
Leslie,
We don't do a real tree either -- my preferred time to set the tree up is Thanksgiving while Beth is home. I always felt sorry for the rejected trees too. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Beth left for 3+ weeks in Hong Kong today! I love my cards and painting!
Here's one more:
We had the fire chief of Sudbury tell us in the 3rd hour of church one day -- during an emergency preparedness sessions -- that live trees are a HUGE fire hazard.
So sad, but true because I love the smell.
We too, have a fake tree. I always swore that I would never get one and then the ease of it all just took over when the twins were 1 and we would go downstairs to "visit" the tree.
I hear ya on the animal movies, although I do watch them. I could careless if the person in the movie is shot, hurt, abandoned etc...but if they hurt the animal I get so upset!
Happy and safe roads home!
So here is a sad thing about me-I feel exactly the same way about the trees. (I've actually contemplated going to a tree lot and buying all the neglected ones on Christmas Eve-although I have no idea what I would do with them.) I have to turn my head when we drive by a Christmas tree lot-it just is the saddest thing. BUT amimal movies don't bother me at all, even when they are sad. Not a sniffle, nothing. What does that say about me?--I'm not sure I want to know. I do like animals. And I do have a fake tree.
I guess your a much more compassionate person than me. But if you ever want to go "save" some unloved trees, you know who to call.
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